Mental health clinicians at CARE Counseling are helpers, trained to assist people who are interested in examination and change; they’re trained to diagnose and treat—but decidedly not trained to offer testimony to the Trier of Fact in a court of law.

CARE believes that therapy should be a safe place to process emotions and experiences and that your information should not be used in court. By being a client at CARE, you agree to this and will not use therapy as a tool or resource in court. A fee of $250 – $1000 per hour will be charged for your therapist’s and CARE’s time in any legal matter. At a minimum, to process a subpoena is $1000 and appearing in court is at a minimum of $5000. These fees may, but are not limited to, include court appearances, report preparation, document review, consultation and legal fees and time, and submission of documents. These fees apply both during and following treatment.

Legal statutes say, among other things, that no person has a right to refuse to be a witness and that no person has the privilege to refuse to disclose any matter or to refuse to produce any writing, object, or other thing in any legal or administrative proceeding. These legal principles and laws constitute the public policy of the state. The laws with respect to psychotherapist-patient privilege provide an exception to these general principles. Fortunately, you as a patient could block the testimony of the clinician by claiming the privilege rendering your clinician’s testimony null and void.

We recommend:

Ask your lawyer for a list of providers they have worked with in the past who are competent in being a fact witness in court.

Family Court involving custody, reunification, and parenting time, we recommend calling Moxie.